The injury occurred Tuesday during a 7-1 blowout of the Wild. Duchene was tripped up by Minnesota’s Nick Palmieri late in the third period and rolled his right ankle — he had to be helped from the ice and didn’t return to the contest.

While there’s no word on the injury’s severity, Adrian Dater of the Denver Post reports Duchene won’t require surgery, meaning he’s got a chance of returning before the end of the regular season.

That said, the loss is still a critical one for the Avalanche, currently sitting in a three-way tie for eighth in the West with 74 points (at the time of writing, only seven points separated teams seven-through-12.) Duchene had been skating with Mark Olver and Peter Mueller on an effective third line and led Colorado in scoring last season with 67 points, the youngest player in franchise history to achieve that feat.

As mentioned above, this has been a forgettable season for Duchene in terms of health. The 21-year-old missed 20 games earlier this season with a knee injury and is on pace for career lows in every significant statistical category.

Just about everything seemed to be going right for the Colorado Avalanche tonight. Sure, the Minnesota Wild are in nosedive mode, but the bottom line is that the Avs are doing what they need to do – and more – in what ended up being a 7-1 beating.

Unfortunately for Colorado,a nice win on national TV might cost the team its streaky young star Matt Duchene. The 21-year-old forward needed help to get off the ice after an unlucky accident in which he locked skates with Minnesota Wild Nick Palmieri

The way his leg moved, it certainly didn’t look good, either. Check out video below:

Duchene might not be the most consistent offensive performer, but when he’s on his game, the third overall selection of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft is one of the NHL’s flashiest forces. Losing his touch could be a brutal blow for an Avalanche team stuck in a rugged playoff bubble battle out West.

Monday, Feb. 27 is the final day for NHL teams to make trades for the 2011-12 regular season. The deadline is set for 3PM ET — be sure to check back here often as PHT will update the tracker throughout the day.

The primary complaint among New Jersey Devils fans is that they believe Marek Zidlicky costs too much – which is pretty reasonable since they’re trying to re-sign Zach Parise and have that pesky bankruptcy thing to deal with.

As it turns out, it will also cost the Devils a big package, even if it’s more about quantity than quality.

The New Jersey Devils confirmed that they sent the Wild defenseman Kurtis Foster, young forward Nick Palmieri, winger Stephane Veilleux, a 2012 second-round pick and a conditional 2013 third round pick for Zidlicky. (Stay tuned for the conditions of that third-rounder.)

Devils angle

New Jersey is likely banking on the fact that Zidlicky was once a second or third-tier talent among offensive defensemen. (That’s not meant as an insult, by the way.) The Devils’ defense isn’t what it once was, so the hope is that he could push a hot team to true contender status.

Again, the sticking point for some is that he has one more season on his deal, with a $4 million cap hit in 2012-13. (Naturally, the flip side is that the Devils might be glad he has that extra year if he ends up being a big success.)

Lamoriello keeps upping the ante in Martin Brodeur’s swan song years, but he’s frequently done his boldest work around trade deadlines anyway.

(OK, his boldest work usually involved compulsively firing head coaches, but you know what I mean.)

Update: 22-year-old Nick Palmieri hasn’t been a smash-hit in his career so far, but the 79th pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft makes the deal a little sweeter for the Wild. His ceiling seems limited, but perhaps he’ll flourish in a change of scenery.

Beyond potentially giving the Wild a solid piñata swing or two in the next two drafts, it’s also a deal that is soaking with nostalgia.

After a couple cups of coffee with the Atlanta Thrashers, Foster truly started his NHL career with the Wild as he spent parts of four seasons (2005-06 to 08-09) in Minnesota before a catastrophic injury nearly ended his career. (It also rightfully heated up the “Let’s get rid of dopey old touch-up icing” debates).

Foster’s bounced around the NHL since then, with stops in Tampa Bay, Anaheim, Edmonton and New Jersey. His value is iffy because of defensive flaws, but he has great size and a formidable slap shot. It’s hard to be too tough on him because his mere presence in the NHL is pretty inspiring in itself.

Veilleux also enjoyed some of his best days with Minnesota. The 30-year-old forward played parts of six seasons with the Wild before bouncing back and forth from the Lightning/Devils and the minors.

Perhaps Foster might find his footing again in the place he enjoyed his greatest successes, but I’d guess the best takeaways are the picks and merely getting something for a long-time defenseman who went sour with Mike Yeo in power.

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I’d say Wild GM Chuck Fletcher did pretty well while Lamoriello rolled the dice in an interesting way, but what do you think? Fire away, hockey fans – particularly those of the Wild and Devils.

“I’m disappointed we’re missing three centermen right now and guys have to fill in,” DeBoer said. “That’s how it goes. It’s a war of attrition here in the NHL. You have to do what you have to do and in this case Zubrus is going to have to go in and play some center. He’s done it before. Hopefully we won’t miss a beat.”

The Devils’ depth up the middle was looking awfully good when Zajac initially returned. With Zajac, Henrique, and Elias all playing well up the middle, the Devils centers were set to be some of the best in the league. Now they’re dealing with injuries that leave them a bit hampered offensively.

Henrique has been challenging injured Oilers rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for top honors as a first year player. If Henrique manages to miss more than today’s game, that will throw a wrench into the Calder Trophy race.